Toyota isn't going to be able to win its sudden acceleration litigation at the motion-to-dismiss phase. [NLJ] This means the case proceeds to tens of millions of dollars worth of discovery as plaintiffs search for documents that they can take out of context to "prove" an otherwise nonexistent problem.

Brooklyn lawsuit: because they offer keyless ignition, it's Toyota's fault that 79-year-old plaintiff forgot to turn off his car and died of carbon monoxide poisoning. [NYDN via ABAJ] It's almost as if Toyota should require a surcharge for elderly drivers.

It doesn't necessarily mean much legally if a wealthy criminal defendant appeals a criminal conviction—the cost-benefit analysis is to seek every level of appellate review possible—but Conrad Black might have a point in his en banc petition objecting to the Seventh Circuit's "harmless error" analysis. [Bashman link roundup; Earlier at POL] (Update: see now Elwood @ Volokh.)

More tapes the Ecuador plaintiffs don't want you to see in the Chevron case. [Am Law Daily]